‘Silence is not golden’: Lamola vows global solidarity, justice for Palestine, and defence of UN Charter
· Citizen
Minister of International Relations and Cooperation minister Ronald Lamola has delivered a fiery call for global solidarity, invoking the legacies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela to demand justice for Palestinians and a recommitment to the UN Charter.
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Lamola, who is in the United States (US) amid heightened tension between Washington and Pretoria, delivered the keynote address at New York’s Riverside Church on Monday, 21 September.
SA committed
He stressed that South Africa remains committed to the UN Charter.
“I can’t imagine a better place to declare that we shall not be moved in our determination to defend the principles of the UN Charter, the sovereign equality of all nations, the right to self-determination and dialogue as the only path to lasting peace.
“There is no better occasion to reaffirm our conviction that might doesn’t make right. And there is no better moment to renew our resolve to challenge those who live by the creed that the mighty must do as they can and the weak must suffer what they must,” Lamola said, echoing the anthem of resistance sung by generations of activists.
King and Madiba
Standing on the same pulpit where King delivered his Beyond Vietnam speech and Mandela addressed crowds after his release, Lamola warned that their words remain urgent today.
“For Palestinians, the age of freedom is yet to dawn. The hour of peace is yet to strike. Despite the purported ceasefire, the violence of occupation and genocide continues,” he said.
“Hospitals, schools, sanitation and water infrastructure have been bombed and bulldozed to the ground. Thanks to technology, the evidence of Palestinian destruction is right on our fingertips, yet the world chooses to look the other way.
Thank you for staying the cause and fighting against injustice and refusing to look the other way despite tremendous challenges.”
Gaza
Lamola stressed that South Africa’s own liberation was made possible by international solidarity, and that the same spirit must now be summoned to dismantle apartheid in Palestine.
“We acted because we know what global solidarity can do. We acted to stop Israel’s impunity and to secure justice for a people suffering a livestreamed genocide,” he told activists.
“When we approached the ICJ, the UN’s principal judicial organ, to challenge Israel’s violation of the Genocide Convention, we did so as part of our commitment to upholding and defending international law and multilateral institutions.”
‘Silence is not golden’
He linked the crisis in Gaza to broader global challenges, from inequality and climate shocks to wars in Sudan, the DRC and Ukraine.
“With less than four years until 2030, the Sustainable Development Goals remain out of reach. Global military spending is now almost 800 times the UN’s regular budget. We can see the consequences clearly across today’s major conflicts.
“Silence is not golden. In the face of grave injustice, silence is complicity,” Lamola said, rejecting calls to prioritise domestic issues over international solidarity.
Closing with a rallying cry from South Africa’s own history, Lamola declared: “We will not move. Ons dak nie. Ons phola hier. Amandla!”